Spitfire: The Future's Bright
by Reamis
Summary: Sequel to 'Spitfire'. The Titans are older now, the team disbanded, but while some people like to live a normal life, others don't want to get out of the game. FINAL CHAPTER 7 UP.
1. Reintroductions

**So, here we are, chapter 1 of a fresh new story. **

**I say fresh, it's actually a sequel but who cares, huh?**

**On that note, just as I remember, if you've never encountered me before you may want to read 'Spitfire', this story will make LOADS more sense if you do.**

**I'll just hop straight into this, suffice to say there's not much to say.**

**Disclaimer: I own everything except the things that DC and Warner Bros own. **

A loud thud echoed through the night as Nightwing stomped into his apartment in Blüdhaven and slammed the door, startling Kori Anders out of a restless sleep.

Once Robin and Starfire of the Teen Titans, the two had moved to Blüdhaven after the team disbanded, Robin took on the mantle of Nightwing and patrolled the new city, making sure justice prevailed. Kori would help him on occasion but she had a job to worry about now.

She was a secretary for a section of Wayne Enterprises based in the dingy city, it paid well enough but all she did was sit behind a desk all day.

'I gather something did not go smoothly?' She asked the silhouette that was her boyfriend of the past few years.

'You could say that.' Nightwing was obviously tired and more than a little annoyed.

'Come to bed, we can talk about it in the morning.' Kori's English had improved no end recently and she no longer over elaborated her sentences. Unless she was very excited.

Nightwing shed his costume, becoming Richard once again, and slid into the bed.

'I wonder if the others are having this much trouble.' Was his last thought before he fell asleep.

---

A large sheet of metal slid out of it's restraints, falling onto a teenage boy who was half concealed under a car.

'ARGH! Dammit! Boss, little help?' A voice called, obviously pained.

A pair of large, mechanically enhanced hands lifted the sheet off the boy, who slid out, giving thanks to the head mechanic and running off to find the first aid kit and a band-aid.

'Kids.' Victor Stone smiled to himself, putting the metal back where it had fallen from.

He had gotten a job at the largest garage in Jump City after the Titans disbanded, his knowledge of mechanics general physical prowess had allowed him to move up through the hierarchy very quickly and in two short years he was now the head mechanic, in charge of everyone else. Unfortunately that included clumsy newbies.

He strolled back to his office, closing the door quietly behind him and sitting in the large chair he had made from spare parts in his free time.

'_I wonder how everyone else is doing?'_ He wondered, unscrewing the cap of his ever present hipflask.

---

Rachel Roth hit the standby on the TV remote and settled back into the luxurious leather sofa that was the main seating in the large, ornate living room.

She and Garfield had moved there not long after their wedding, immediately after the disbanding of the team.

Garfield had become a popular and prominent wildlife documentary host and was currently on an airplane from Africa where he had been making a film about some endangered species of monkey or another.

Rachel herself had taken to writing novels, mostly dark romances, which had proved lucrative to say the least. That is to say that the Logans were not in danger of becoming impoverished anytime soon.

She had been watching the news, something she did while telling herself crime-fighting wasn't part of her life anymore despite longing to get back into the game, just once.

The top story today involved yet another triumph for the Justice League, who had successfully infiltrated and brought down an underground fighting tournament in which fighters were killed. Both in fights and when they lost their appeal to the crowds.

The newsreader had said certain members were now rounding up the people who funded the fights and the picture onscreen had been of a very familiar, if slightly more mature looking, man.

---

Two figures moved frantically around the darkened room, collecting papers, faxes, anything that could connect them to the fights.

A loud thud shattered the silence as one figure dropped the box it was carrying. They both froze, half expecting that the noise had alerted the whole world to their presence.

'God dammit! Jenkins, the League'll be here any minute, you wanna still be here when they arrive?' A gruff voice emanated from one figure.

'No sir, sorry sir.' A slightly higher voice, dripping with barely masked hatred, answered.

As they frantically worked they failed to notice the third figure in the room with them. A dark outline atop one of the exposed beams of the roof.

The figure appeared to be sitting, dangling a leg off the beam and surveying the two others with little interest.

'Good,' Gruff Voice began, 'that's the last of it, now lets get out of here before the League bust our ass.' They began to move towards the door when the surveying figure descended from the rafters.

'Too late.' It said, it's voice full of amusement and though it was beginning to fade it still held a British accent.

Before either man could escape or attack they had been knocked out by the mysterious Justice League member.

'That was far easier than I thought. Thank the fates they didn't have guns.' The voice spoke to nobody in particular. It was, of course, heard by whoever was monitoring the comms at this time of night, probably J'onn, who decided not to comment.

The figure set about tying the criminals to the central pillar of the office and then sat against the wall.

'Spitifre, I've alerted the authorities to come collect them if you want to head back.' Sure enough, J'onn's voice crackled through the earpiece.

'_Dude never sleeps, does he?'_ A voice in Spitfire's mind asked.

'Thanks, J'onn, but I think I'll skip out on the pickup tonight. I'm close to an old town I used to know, thought I'd give it a once-over, y'know for old time's sake?' He answered, standing up and moving to the window.

'I understand, we're up here if you need us.' The comm shut off.

Spitfire glanced back at the criminals, who were slowly coming round.

'Goodnight boys.' He intoned with a smile before leaping from the window.

He hit the ground in a crouch and straightened up before remembering something urgent.

'J'onn, could you tell Terra I'm down here? You have no idea how bad I got yelled at last time I didn't tell her where I was.' He reactivated the comm to ask.

'Got it, and Spitfire, I do know, we all heard it.' A light chuckle floated down the line.

'Thought you might have. And J'onn, I'm off duty now, so it's Charly, ok?' With that he strolled off into the city streets to the cacophony of sirens drawing closer.

---

'He is so inconsiderate sometimes!' Terra was raging around the Watchtower, ranting to anyone who would listen. Currently that would be the Flash, or rather the new Flash. Bart Allen, formerly Kid Flash, had taken over the role when Wally West had 'retired'.

'I'm sure he considered how you would feel, after all, he got J'onn to tell you. He's learned from the last time.' He added the final part under his breath, unfortunately it was a loud breath which gained him a death glare. 'He's his own guy though, you know that.' He reasoned.

Terra slowed her pace, feeling that timeless tenderness through her anger.

'I just worry, that's all.' Her hand went to her face to move her hair, which she had cut short a while ago, as such there was nothing to brush away. Bart noticed.

'You're tired, you should get some sleep.' He advised. 'He'll be alright, he always is.' He caught her look, 'Ok, except that one time, still, he bounced back from that quite well, I doubt he would have needed our help.'

Terra merely nodded and set off to get some sleep.

'Now, what was I doing? Oh yeah, Oreos!' Bart rushed off into the darkened corridors.

---

'…Yeah, some crazy devil worshipper somehow managed to kidnap him for some weird ritual.' Victor's voice poured through Gar's cell phone.

'Why didn't he tell me?' Gar felt hurt that his friend would neglect to tell him anything.

'He told me he'd told Rae, might have been lying I guess.' Victor reasoned.

'Hmm… I've gotta go Vic, just pulled up outside home.' He clicked the phone shut after their goodbyes, paid the cab driver and looked up at his enormous house.

'I'm so lucky.' He sighed to himself, setting off up the drive.

He was greeted at the door by Rachel and they brushed lips by way of a hello.

'How was it then?' She asked, as soon as the door was closed. She hadn't spoken to him in person for weeks so she just wanted to hear his voice.

'It was great, the shooting was fantastic. All single takes. When it's done the show'll be fantastic.' He dropped his suitcase at the foot of the stairs and moved to the living room. 'Those poor monkeys, poachers are wiping them out faster than they can reproduce. It's possible there may be some tears on the documentary.'

He slumped into the comfortable sofa and sighed heavily, savouring the familiar senses of home, the feel of the carpet on his feet, the sun streaming through the windows and the faint scent of Rachel's perfume that hung in the air.

'Anything happen while I was away?' He asked, expecting a long list, he hadn't been home in a while.

'Nothing really, Kori got a raise.' Rachel sat on the sofa next to him. 'Vic won some kind of award or race or something and I gather you've already heard about Charly?' She glanced at him, catching the confused look on his face.

'I heard some nut managed to capture him and something about a ritual but that's it.' Gar leaned forward, rubbing his eyes.

'Well, you've heard half of it then. This ritual was to…' She stopped suddenly, glancing around the room. Gar recognised when his wife had felt something out of the ordinary.

'What is it?' He asked, concernedly.

'Oh nothing, but I'm sure he'd rather tell you the story himself.' She turned on the sofa to see the tall man leaning against the doorframe.

'Y'know, you could have knocked on the door rather than breaking in. I should call the cops.' She stood to confront her brother. She was, however, smiling.

'What would you tell them? 'A member of the Justice League broke into my house to say hi'? I don't think they'd care.' He moved into the room. 'How long has it been?' He asked, pulling Rachel into a brotherly embrace.

'Three months, give or take. I heard you were on a mission?' Rachel asked as Gar came to stand by her.

'Yeah, just collecting some garbage nearby, thought I'd drop in. Hey, Gar.' He extended a hand.

'Dude, we never hug anymore, I'm beginning to think you don't love me.' The green man joked, grabbing Charly into a hug.

'_He's gotten much stronger since the last time we met… Challenge him to a fight!'_ Bravery shouted inside his head.

'So, before I arrived you were discussing my little 'Satanist' problem.' Charly motioned for them to sit down then took his own seat in a large armchair.

'How d'you know?' Gar asked, cocking his head.

'A little bird told me. It's an odd story, you've got to the part about the ritual right?'

He was answered with nods.

'Ok, the ritual was designed to release the 'inner demon' of whoever was the subject. My little friend managed to find out about my… delicate heritage and thought I would make a good Demon Slave.'

He closed his eyes, savouring the memory of the look on the man's face when he had burned his house down.

'Anyway, he was halfway through the ritual when the JL intervened, thanks must go to Bart and Tara for the assistance. Of course, by being half done with the ritual I was half done becoming a demon, as such I had developed certain… 'traits'.' He grinned and pointed to his enlarged, sharpened canines, almost fangs now.

Gar grinned to reveal his own fang, it seemed to suit him better.

'I also developed these blasted things. Useful at times, but otherwise they just get in the way.'

He stood, turned his back on them and removed his coat. Poking through holes in his shirt and folded to his back were two large, black, leathery wings, much like a bat's, but they seemed…spikier, more threatening.

Gar gasped and leapt to his feet, moving to inspect the strange new appendages. Rachel simply stared.

'This is intriguing! So these are a result of someone trying to make you more demonic?' Gar aksed, prodding them, causing them to twitch.

'Yeah, I really don't understand it at all. It just seems a little farfetched doesn't it? Still, they have their uses.' He turned back around to face them, grabbing a knife from his boot and slamming it into his left wing. The knife snapped.

'Strong as Adamantium, but light as…well… wings.' He put the broken knife back into his pocket, seemingly unconcerned that he broke it. 'It's one of Batman's' He threw the comment into the room flippantly.

'I don't understand, Trigon isn't a winged demon. For all intents and purposes you're not actually directly related to him anyway.' Rachel had stood too, moving forward to tentatively poke one of the odd additions to her otherwise perfectly normal brother. Well, as perfectly normal as he had ever been.

'I know, we had some of the magic users in the League check it out. Turns out the ritual transforms the subject into the form the 'caster' believes to be truly demonic. Obviously my guy didn't have much of an imagination.' He grabbed his coat and was about to throw it back on when a ringing emanated from his pocket.

Grabbing his cell phone, he checked the screen and shot a terrified look at the other two. He mouthed the word 'Tara' to them before flipping it open.

'Hi, honey.' He said, innocently.

There was a pause where his face fell.

'I know, I asked J'onn to tell you…' pause 'Well yeah, I know I didn't mention it would be all night and some of today, I…'

Rachel grinned and Gar looked sympathetic as Charly whipped the phone away from his ear, rubbing it with his other hand. Tara's voice came through the phone as clear as if she was in the room with them.

'I'm with the Logans… Alright, I'll come straight back. Have J'onn prep the transporter.' He snapped the phone shut and grinned at the couple. 'Sorry for the flying visit guys, but, y'know.' He set off to their French windows.

Gar caught up with him, looking pained.

'Dude, good luck up there. Last time Rae was that mad at me I was sleeping in the garden for three days.' He slapped his brother-in-law on the back.

'It'll be fine. She can't resist me when I turn on the charm, if I let her think she's gotten through to me I can get some in about 45 minutes.' He let a large grin creep over his features.

Gar grinned back before cuffing him on the back of the head.

'You're unbelievable.' He laughed.

'See you around.' Charly stepped into the garden before opening the link to the Watchtower.

'Beam me up, Mr. Scot…J'onzz.' With that he vanished, transported via some high-tech device or another.

---

Charly stepped off the transport panel, took a deep breath and set off for his room, and the waiting, furious Tara.

'Not so loud this time, ok man?' Bart accosted him, grinning as he walked past.

**And that's chapter 1**

**I assume at least some of you who read Spitfire are reading this, so welcome back!**

**If you haven't encountered my writing before, hello, welcome, I hope you enjoyed yourself and will continue to do so.**

**If you'd like to drop me a line you could review, you could check out my homepage (yes, it's a myspace and for that I apologise) or drop me an E-mail if your feeling particularly friendly.**

**I thought for a bit of fun and to change some dynamics I'd whack in the wings. Will they be important? Probably not. But maybe. **

**This has been Reamis, your guide.**


	2. Reunions

**So it's begun, my obsession is renewed with this chapter. My fingers skip over the keys to log yet another era in the life of our friend the hero.**

**Again, welcome, I'll leap straight into this.**

Charly awoke to the slightly disturbing sight of Batman leaning over him.

Bruce Wayne had aged, perhaps considerably more than he should have some might say, but he still maintained that he belonged on the side of justice, fighting the good fight, this is the reason he still insisted on being involved in missions.

It was a few seconds until Charly realised where he was, and a few more before he remembered why.

'She kicked you out, then?' Bruce smiled, not so rare these days, gesturing up and down the hallway where he had found the newest addition to the League sleeping on the ground.

Charly merely grunted a reply, forcing himself to stand up and stretch, a night on the floor of the Watchtower made a person quite stiff.

As he stretched a loud crack sounded from his odd new appendages as they straightened out, filling the corridor and darkening the surroundings.

He was about to speak civilly when the door beside them slid open to reveal a still tired looking Tara, bed hair still intact and yawning, she glanced at Bruce and gave a curt nod before simply pointing at Charly, then at the bed inside the room.

He didn't need to be told twice and sprinted to the area she indicated. She gave another nod and the door slid closed.

'Good morning to you too.' Bruce intoned, turning to go.

'Oh, and could you keep it down please?' He shouted back at the door. 'Yelling is one thing, but hearing that over breakfast would be disturbing to say the least.'

He strolled off down the hall to the main dining area.

---

It was a while before either Tara or Charly reappeared, though when they did nobody asked them any questions. Their appearance spoke for itself, with Tara beaming and adjusting her hair occasionally as though she had rushed it and Charly's eyes literally glowing.

They sat at a table after grabbing some breakfast and were about to plan their day when Clark's voice boomed over the PA.

'Spitfire, Terra, report to the control room for briefing. You've got a new mission guys.' The infuriating message rang.

'I haven't even had a chance to speak this morning.' Charly complained, as though to prove his point he still had his morning baritone voice, causing a little smile and a glint in Tara's eye.

'D'you think we have time to go back to the room before we meet Clark?' She whispered in his ear, tracing a circle on his chest with her finger.

'If only.' He replied, as much because he wanted to as to cover the wolf-whistle from the Flash, seated nearby.

Stepping through the door to the control room (not really a room, more a balcony overlooking practically the whole Watchtower) Charly grimaced as he spotted the original 7 (minus Wally West who had vanished into the Speed Force a while ago), obviously this was something important, to draw them all into handing out the mission.

'It's possible we're about to get a mission that neither of us will like.' He whispered to Tara, she merely nodded in reply, psyching herself up. She still had confidence issues when to came to the League founders.

Clark nodded swiftly at them before motioning at the door to the meeting room, then strolled through himself.

They followed, taking seats at the end of the long table and staring straight at him.

'Right,' Clark began, Charly was pleased to note that his eyes still had the effect of making even Superman falter, 'Well, the mission. It's just you two, from the League at least, I've had Green Arrow contact Speedy, or rather the former Speedy. You probably know him as Roy.' Clark didn't do well with real names, strangely.

'There has been a recent string of particularly violent crimes in Jump City.' He paused, allowing for questions.

'And you think they're related.' Tara spoke up, though it wasn't a question.

'There's more than enough evidence to suggest that, yes.' Clark continued. 'The Bodies of the victims all…'

'Whoa!' Charly cut in. 'Hang on, bodies? As in plural?'

'Yes, multiple fatalities.' Bruce put in.

'Our little town is all grown up. Here I thought we'd raised it so well, too.' Charly slumped into his chair, letting the full weight of the situation hit him; Tara placed a hand on his shoulder. He loved Jump City, always had since he first arrived there as a young teenager running from his past.

'We want you to investigate the crimes, assist the police in their inquiries. They still have jurisdiction though, so they ask you to do something and you do it. They tell you to step off, you come back here, got it?' John (Green Lantern) put in.

The two nodded, they were already known for not playing by the rules. 'Do the job, do it fast, worry later.' was Charly's philosophy when it came to pretty much everything, something he picked up during his days of stealing to survive in his youth.

'We send you out as soon as possible, so prep and report to the transporters.' Clark stopped ad watched them as they simply sat there.

'Now! Go go go!' He yelled, watching them jump and scurry out of the room. 'Newbies.'

---

'Yo, Vic.' Garfield's voice echoed around the garage and into the ears of Victor, who was in his office.

He strolled out to meet his old friend, pulling him into an awkward hug.

'Get off dude, your mechanic buddies will start talking.' Gar struggled out of the powerful grip.

Vic glanced around and spotted Gar's TVR parked in front of the ramp.

'Brakes again?' He asked with a sigh.

Gar smiled sheepishly and nodded.

'Shall I just replace them?' Vic asked further.

Again, Gar simply nodded.

'This time I'm going with the T-car special, you remember how good those brakes were.' He smiled at the memory of the Titan's primary mode of transport.

'Hey thanks, man.' Gar got out his chequebook and began to scribble on it .'How much I owe ya?'

'Nothing, dude, those brakes were getting so bad I'm doing this to keep you alive.' Vic laughed, but still accepted the cheque thrust at him.

'It's about what I paid you last time, slightly more.' Gar explained. 'Any chance you could do it soon, I'm not taking a bus to the restaurant.' He asked.

'I'll get on that.' Vic motioned him to bring the car in.

As he worked they chatted about this and that, Vic's work and how it was currently booming because of the new racing circuit that had been built, Gar's work, how he'd managed to get a few species classified as protected through his shows.

Eventually they moved onto the evening planned.

'Can you believe that we're all getting together again after all this time?' Gar was really looking forward to seeing all his old friends and teammates again.

'I swear I'm gonna break Rich's arm if he turns up in a mask.' Vic's voice sounded from under the car.

'Tara cut her hair, y'know? It looks great.' Gar threw out nonchalantly, this still didn't stop Vic rolling out from under the car to give him a look. 'What?' Gar protested innocently.

They stayed silent for a while until Gar decided to bring up a touchy subject.

'Charly and Rich…' He began.

'Don't say another word.' Vic warned. 'And don't mention it tonight either. Forget it.'

Charly and Richard had parted on less than excellent terms, or rather they had parted when they were dragged apart; Charly with a broken nose and Rich with a pretty nasty burn.

Rich had been getting progressively more aggravated by Charly's refusal to acknowledge the issue with Brother Blood years ago, it eventually culminated in Richard snapping when Charly made a bad decision.

Both Starfire and Terra were in need of help and some might argue that Star was in more danger. Needless to say Charly went to help Terra, causing Rich to snap completely. That was the final mission, the team had ended there.

'I think, no, I hope they've both gotten over it. I'm sure Kori has managed to talk some sense into Rich.' Gar explained.

'What about Charly?' Vic asked.

'C? The guy who died and thinks it wasn't a big deal? Yeah, I'm sure he's over it.' Gar laughed.

---

Richard pulled his mask out and held it up.

'What do you think? For old time's sake?' He asked Kori, who had finally decided on a dress and was now acting impatient while Richard finished his preparations.

'I have the feeling Victor may injure you, were you to arrive wearing that.' She smiled at him.

'I know, I just thought it would be funny.' He feigned putting the mask back but slipped it into his pocket when Kori had turned.

When they were finally in the car, Richard gunned the ignition and burned off down the road, taking the interstate to save time. It wasn't far to Jump, but it was a drive that would have taken an hour and a half were it not for the concrete behemoth slashing the land in two.

'I can see this going badly, I still have that scar you know.' Richard spoke, changing lanes.

'I have seen it many times, Richard. I thought I had talked you out of this nonsense. He is our friend, one argument does not change that.' Kori lectured.

'I know, I was just wondering whether he would be over it yet. He always did have issues. I hope he's not still mad at me.' Richard mused.

'This is the man who insisted his death and resurrection were not a big deal. I'm sure he's fine.' Kori smiled. 'By the way, I know you have the mask in your pocket.'

Richard chuckled embarrassedly.

---

'Are you sure this is the place?' Rachel asked Garfield as he pulled the TVR up to the most expensive restaurant in Jump City. Her brother wasn't known for his love of lavish things. She remained unsure until she spotted Tara stood outside and Charly speaking quietly to the doorman.

As they stepped from the car and the valet nearly fainted at the chance to drive the newest model TVR Tara greeted them with a kiss on the cheek.

'It's been so long since I last saw you guys.' She gushed, bringing them over to where Charly was now handing the doorman a fifty.

'Just hold the table, please?' They heard him whisper. The doorman checked his hand, spotted the note and nodded.

They watched Richard and Kori turn up in Rich's latest toy, bought with his Wayne Enterprises money. Slightly nicer than Gar's TVR, it didn't have a badge and was probably a custom made model from somewhere.

Richard helped Kori from the car, took her arm and they walked up to the others, smiling.

Charly turned in time to come face to face with Rich, his smile faltered for a second, through uncertainty mostly.

'Charly.' Richard intoned, holding out a hand.

'Richard.' Charly reciprocated.

They stood for a while like that, the others expecting an argument or a comment at the very least. That was until they both laughed and Charly pulled Rich into a tight hug.

'How long has it been dude?' He asked his former leader, still laughing.

'Too long.' Richard replied, also laughing. 'I'm glad we're over it, let the past be the past.' He turned to Gar.

'What d'you think of the new car? Impressive huh?' He asked, beaming.

Gar smiled conspicuously before answering.

'If you're trying to make me jealous it isn't working. You forget, I've had constant contact with Vic.' Gar chuckled.

'So?' Richard looked confused.

He then jumped out of his skin as a loud, almost terrifying roar erupted behind him.

'That's so.' Gar laughed as Vic rounded the corner in his modified car.

It was impossible to tell what it used to be, the only certainty is that this was Vic's new baby. The definitive in automotive perfection. It rolled to a stop, still growling menacingly, and Victor stepped out. The valet had collapsed, his nose bleeding, when he saw the car pull in.

'Hey guys, long time since we were all together like this, huh?' Vic spoke loudly, jovially and with a hint of excitement. He stopped for a moment to stand next to Gar and Rich as Vic's car rounded a corner at the hands of the valet. They sighed in unison.

'If you ladies have finished comparing handbags,' Charly was stood with the female members of the group, hands on his hips, 'our table is waiting.' He told the three guys, still drooling over Vic's ride, he tutted, turned on his heel and threw an exasperated 'Men!' over his shoulder as he took Tara's arm and they entered the restaurant.

---

'Wow, that food was good. And I mean awesome good.' Gar pushed his empty plate away from himself and sighed contentedly.

Charly was deep in conversation with Rich and was getting a little more than slightly jealous.

'So, you do nothing but still make how much?' He asked.

'From nothing but shares, around one and a half million dollars a year. Then, from other parts of the company, a little more.' Rich explained, ignoring the look his friend was giving him.

'And Kori works because…?' Charly prompted.

'I feel that I am pulling my weight, rather than living off Richard's luck and I do not like to think of myself as a kept woman.' Kori explained, over her wineglass.

'Right, how much is it we make a year, Tara?' Charly asked.

'Erm… approximately nothing, though we do get full housing and food expenses paid for by the government, not to mention donations and the fact that the League seems to be able to somehow print it's own money.' She smiled as she said this, then the smile grew as a memory struck her. 'Remember that time in Rio, with the drug baron? How did we pay for that?' She asked Charly, who chuckled at the memory.

'Somehow GL got us to believe that Batman was selling the seized dugs on the side. Oh the jokes at old Batsy's expense were hilarious. Until he bataranged Flash in the face.' He wiped a tear from his eye and glanced at the bill, which had been set down on the table.

His eyes widened and he coughed embarrassedly before leaning over to the waiter and whispering something.

The waiter promptly removed the bill and Charly motioned everyone could leave.

'What about the…' Rachel started, only to be cut off by a loud noise from Charly's ear. Or rather his earpiece.

'Charly,' Jonn's voice poured out, he sounded angry, 'the Justice League is not your meal ticket. Do you know how much we've just been charged? I'm trying to stop Superman coming down there right now.' He carried on like that for a while.

Charly took the device from his ear and flicked a small switch on the side.

'Anyone fancy going to a club?' He asked innocently.

**And there's chapter 2.**

**I'll apologise now for the latency of these next few chapters, as I've said I've got exams on and they're really important so there's little time to write.**

**Still when I can I will. It'll probably be during the night, for example its 01:32 at the moment but hey, I deprive myself of sleep for you guys. Keep reading!**

**Your host,**

**Reamis.**


	3. Unsuspected Meetings

**Here we are in chapter three, nothing to say really, so let's recap:**

**Last time:**

**The former Titans were reunited for a meal in a fancy restaurant, paid for (unwittingly) by the Justice League. Just as Jonn began to lay into Charly he severed contact and suggested they all go clubbing.**

**Now, today's chapter:**

Rich stepped back from the car to allow Kori out again, they had both changed out of their formal garb into more casual clothing for the night of dancing and socialising ahead.

'I am glad Charly told us to bring extra clothing, I do not want to imagine trying to dance in that dress.' Kori confided, taking Rich's proffered arm and walking to stand with the others, all of whom were waiting in their own casual clothes.

All the male members of the group now sported jeans and a t-shirt of varying designs. Gar's was a simple, refined green number; Vic sported a non-descript blue t-shirt. Rich's was a red shirt with a small logo on the left breast pocket. Charly's offering was not much different from his day-to-day wear, a black t-shirt underneath an open purple shirt, which currently was flapping in the light summer breeze.

Tara had opted for a black skirt and a stylish yellow blouse-like shirt. Rachel's outfit was much the same, but with a slightly more intricately laced blue top. Kori had gone back to the mini-skirt and purple tank-top look, which she pulled off well.

'If we're all ready? Then let the night begin.' Charly pushed open the door for the others to enter the room. He stopped Tara as she walked past him.

'Tara, I know you don't like places like this, neither do I, so if you wanna skip out that's fine, I'll say goodbye to the guys and call it a night and we'll head to Rachel and Gar's.' The Logan's had let them stay for as long as they needed to, opening up an entire wing of the mansion for the two.

'It's ok, you can stay if you want to, I can get myself back if I want to leave.' She planted a kiss on his lips.

'You sure?' Charly enquired, trying to cover his gratitude in case it was premature.

'Sure. You don't have to worry about me.' Tara began to enter the club.

'You're the best.' Charly shouted over the music after her.

Inside, the music was so loud it was impossible to hear anything else and the flashing lights made it difficult to focus on any one spot for too long. Bodies pressed together, writhing and swaying hypnotically to the music like some malformed behemoth creature of less than intelligent design.

'What possesed me to suggest coming here?' Charly said to himself, his words lost in the music.

_'You wanted everyone to enjoy themselves tonight. The majority of the team enjoys this atmosphere. You're clever.'_ Knowledge affronted him, slipping in a quick compliment for himself.

'If I'm so clever, how come you forgot we aren't a 'team' anymore?' Charly snidely asked, grinning. There was no answer.

He made his way over to the bar and found the others, minus Kori and Rich, who had gone off to dance in the throng, and began asking each what they wanted to drink.

'Nothing for me, I don't drink.' Gar replied, waving the offer away.

'Something with martini in it.' Rachel told him, trying to hand him a $10 bill. He declined, prefering to buy them all himself.

Vic ordered a JD. Straight.

'I'll just have a bacardi and coke, I'm gonna jet afterwards. Feels like I'm coming down with something.' Tara told him. He put his arm around her and leaned in so she could hear him better.

'You ok? You don't have a fever.' He looked into her eyes, his own sparkling with worry.

_'They sparkle with everything, they even sparkle with sorrow. God they're beautiful.'_ Tara's mind yelled.

'I'll be fine, just a little tired I guess. You can stay, really, I don't mind.' She confided, slipping from his embrace and moving back to the bar.

Charly watched her go, still worried. He trusted her judgement though, if she said she'd be fine it must be true. She was his rock. He moved to the bar and called the kid working it over.

'Yeah, I'll have a bacardi and coke, vodka martini, a water, a JD and finally a Baileys. thanks.' He told the guy.

'We're out of baileys I'm afraid.' The kid replied instantly.

'You utter bar-steward. Another martini then, please.' He smiled, handing over the cash.

'There you go, sir.' The kid somehow managed to place all five drinks onto the bar at once before grabbing the money and handing Charly his change.

_'Oh, dude,'_ Insecurity yelled from his head, _'He called us 'Sir', Oh man, we must look old!'_

_'We are old. Older than him anyway. He must only just have hit 18.'_ Charly thought, loudly.

After grabbing the drinks he made his way back to where his friends were stood, handing each their respective glasses.

'I know you declined, but I got you water anyway.' Charly told Gar, handing him a glass.

For a while they simply stood, occasionally drinking, staring into the crowd of people until finally Tara set her empty glass on the bar and began to say her goodnights.

Charly followed her to the door, still a little worried about her.

'I told you, stay with the guys, have fun, I'll be ok.' She smiled at his concern, taking her coat from his outstreched arm. 'Thanks'

With that she left the club, leaving Charly looking stranded and alone just inside the door. He made a decision and rushed back to his friends, uttering hurried goodbyes and promises of doing this again sometime. He was about to sprint out of the door when he barrelled into something. Or rather someone.

'Hey, watch where you're going jer... Charly?' The woman he had plowed into was none other than Jinx, more mature looking now, the bubblegum pink hair was now confined to pink highlights in a straight, light brown. Her dress sense hadn't changed much, however, she was sporting a strange mixture of striped and plain garments. She pulled it off quite well.

'Jinx? Hey,' Charly was confused from the collision and the sudden meeting with someone he hadn't seen or heard from in years, 'How's it going?'

'Not bad, I just got a job here so I'm out checking out the nightlife. Y'know, the nightlife that doesn't involve breaking and entering charges.' She smiled at him. He returned the grin. 'So what brings you back here?' She asked, flipping off some girl who bumped her on her way past. 'I heard you were with the Justice league now.'

Charly didn't catch the last part due to a swelling in the volume of the music and asked her to repeat herself.

'You wanna go somewhere a bit quieter and catch up?' She asked him, already taking his arm and draggin him to the door.

'Well, I was going to...' he began to protest, but something stopped him '...Sure, why not.'

---

The small coffee shop they finally arrived at was dimly lit and a little depressing. Charly had been here many times when the Titans were still around, just to get away from everything.

Grabbing a table in a corner they sat and Jinx began the conversation again.

'So, as I said, I heard you were with the Justice League now. Couldn't get out of the game, huh?' She joked.

'I didn't want to go back to a normal life, y'know? Not when mine sucked so badly.' Charly told her. 'What about you? What are you doing with yourself?'

For a moment or two Jinx had a strange, faraway look in her eyes, then she shook her head and smiled.

'A friend of mine is starting a business in the city, just a little place like this,' she gestured around, 'she offered me a job and I get to live above the shop, so rent isn't a problem.'

'Sounds good,' He noticed she wasn't looking at him and followed her eyeline to a man's pocket, where a bulging wallet was pratically falling out, 'Jinx!' He snapped his fingers in front of her, bringing her back to the present. He grinned sheepishly at his reprimanding look.

'Sorry, old habits.' She tried to hide a slight blush.

Charly spotted a slight fluctuation in her manner and her energy. Something he was quite familiar with.

'Jinx, have you been drinking?' He asked.

She nodded.

_'Wow, she hides it well.'_ Someone said inside his head. He nodded mentally but still thought the best thing he could would be to help her.

'Come on, kid, I'm taking you home.' He told her, helping her up.

It was as though simply because he had noticed, her drunkeness had increased in intensity.

He out his arm round her to act as support and they left the dingy cafe.

---

'Well, this is the place.' Jinx slurred her words slightly and had almost fallen many times on the way to the apartment. She had some trouble with the key until Charly took it from her and opened the door.

She stumbled in and through to an adjacent room, yelling back to him.

'Help yourself to anything in the fridge, I'll be out in a sec.'

Charly sat on the small sofa and looked around. A small apartment, but not tiny, big enough for one person to live in comfortably. The decoration was clearly already done when Jinx moved in. A bland beige all over, with hardwood floors.

It was a while before she reemerged from what Charly assumed was the bedroom. He blushed slightly when he noticed she had slipped out of her clothes and into a thin robe which wasn't much longer than the tiny skirt she had been wearing.

'Do you want a drink? I was gonna get myself a glass of water, you want?' She asked him, smiling oddly.

'Uh, sure. Thanks.' He answered, even though she had already got two glasses and filled them from a nearby tap.

'Here ya go.' She passed him the glass, but not without sloshing some of her own down herself. 'Whoops!' She giggled, rubbing at the wet patch dangerously close to her nipple. Charly averted his eyes, out of politeness, he told himself. He was blushing madly.

He took a long swig from the glass, draining it in one gulp, and set it on the small coffee table in front of him. He noticed that Jinx was staring at him intensely, a slight grin creeping over her features.

_'Wait,'_ Knowledge yelled in his head, _'there was something in that water that shouldn't have been there.' _Charly's eyes widened in realisation.

Jinx was acting, very well, and had managed to spike his drink when he wasn't watching. He began to lose focus, slipping in and out of lucidity.

'Jinx? What did you do?' He asked, closing his eyes to stop the room from spinning.

'Don't worry, that'll only last a second,' she whispered in his ear, 'after that you won't remember a thing.'

With that Charly left himself. He thought he had blacked out but he could tell he was still awake. Something terrible was happening. He heard Jinx's voice from far off.

'Lets have some fun, C.'

---

Charly awoke in an unfamiliar place, with a pounding headache, which didn't help his memories at all. His memories were themselves the problem, or rather the lack of his memories was the problem.

He rolled over in the unfamiliar bed and recoiled in shock and horror when he spotted Jinx lying next to him, leaning on one elbow and grinning hugely.

'Good morning, stud.' She purred.

Something in Charly's head snapped to attention, his mind trying to force his memories of last night to the forefront. Almost everyone in his head was in shock. Bar one, Knowledge.

_'Oh shit.'_

**Ah, cliffies, aren't they great?**

**Nothing to say really, except keep reading.**

**Thanks.**

**Reamis, out. **


	4. Unwanted Realisations

**I have nothing else to do, so I'll begin chapter 4.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or anything affiliated. I do however own Charly and the storyline.**

Charly leapt from the bed, almost through the door into the main apartment due to an involuntary spasm from his wings. He stared in horror at Jinx, who was grinning at him from the bed, until he noticed a cool breeze and realized he was naked.

'Oh shit!' He covered himself as best he could with his arms and wings, causing a quiet giggle from Jinx.

'Aw, come on. I've seen it all anyway, last night.' She mock whined.

'No, you didn't! Nothing happened!' Charly yelled, demanding that she agree.

'If that's what you want to tell yourself, go ahead. I'll always have the memories to keep me company on long, cold nights.' Jinx purred, getting out of the bed herself. Charly noticed she too was naked and covered his eyes.

'Could you put something on please?' He asked, looking away.

'Well, you weren't saying that before.' Jinx seemed to be mocking him.

'Right, fuck this.' Charly yelled, stopping time and throwing on his clothes. He sprinted out of the apartment before letting time flow normally again.

He glanced around the streets, trying to get his bearings, until he spotted the video store the Titans always used to rent from. He was right in the middle of the city. He checked his watch, 5:30, before sprinting in the direction of the Logan's mansion home.

'If I get back in time Tara will still be asleep. I can say I didn't want to wake her so I slept on the sofa.' He told himself through heavy breaths.

'_Yeah, good plan. Got a long term idea?'_ Wisdom accosted him in his head.

'No.'

---

'…So I slept on the sofa down here because I didn't want to wake you up.' Charly finished before ramming a whole slice of toast into his mouth.

'Aw, that's so sweet of you.' Tara planted a kiss on his cheek before refilling his glass of grapefruit juice.

So far she didn't suspect a thing, Charly was beginning to calm down a little and form a rational plan for what to do next before he noticed that his sister kept glancing at him strangely. He sipped a mouthful of juice just as she began to speak.

'So, I saw you leave with Jinx last night after you said goodbye to us.' Rachel intoned, opting for her old monotone voice.

Charly drenched Gar in a cloud of juice before spluttering on the small amount he had managed to inhale while simultaneously exhaling. He wiped his mouth and apologised before speaking again.

'Yeah, I met her on the way out and we went to a little coffee shop to catch up. She's doing good, got a job now and I think she's really beginning to get into this 'normal life' thing.' He spurted, eyes darting from person to person.

Tara eyed him for a while before returning to her own breakfast. 'That's nice for her.' She replied, rather flatly.

Charly grinned sheepishly, trying to hide it by practically inhaling another piece of toast. Rachel caught his eye again and nodded to the door.

'Charly, can I talk to you for a sec? In there.' She pointed to the door she had already indicated.

Charly simply nodded and moved for the door, staring at his feet. Rachel followed close behind and closed the door softly before hissing angrily at him.

'Let's make this more private shall we? Stop the temporal dimension or whatever it is you do.' She spat. He did so, before nodding for her to continue.

'What the hell happened last night?' She really began to yell.

'Nothing! I had a chat with an old friend.' Charly didn't raise his voice; he hadn't been known to do that in a few years.

'Don't give me that, I've seen the way you've been acting. I don't even need to be psychically connected to you to know what you did.' Rachel yelled louder.

'I swear to you, I didn't do anything.' Charly dropped the exasperated tone in his voice, hoping his show of restraint would calm his raging sister. It seemed, however, to infuriate her more.

'I cannot believe you would do that to Tara! I can't believe you slept with Jinx! Jinx, of all people, too! You know they don't get on!' Rachel was really laying into him, a lamp had even cracked, something that also hadn't happened in years.

Something in Charly snapped, perhaps it was simply having Rachel scream at him in this way, perhaps it was the years of pent up anger he had cultivated. Or perhaps it was because he was being reminded of his betrayal, which stung him the most. In any eventuality, he was not going to stand by any longer.

'I did nothing, Raven. Nothing! I don't care what you see in here!' He slammed a finger onto the side of his head, not noticing the look on her face when he used her real, given name. 'I don't even care what I saw myself! Nothing happened! I wouldn't do that! Not to her.' The lamp that had cracked during Rachel's torrent had shattered into thousands of fragments and burned to ash on the expensive carpet. For the first time in years, Charly had yelled in anger.

So surprising was it that Rachel had in fact sat in a nearby chair, a look of shock and confusion etched into her features. Charly's rage collapsed in on itself once more and he seemed to sag a little.

'I wouldn't.' He almost whispered before becoming silent and still with wings bared, like some gothic statue on an ancient cathedral.

It was a while before Rachel came to her senses and noticed the single tear on her brother's cheek. She stood to comfort him but he moved away, wiping at the tear with his sleeve. He glared at her for a second before he was unable to keep up his charade of anger. He was hurt, confused and he felt alone. Rachel picked up on this however, and managed to say exactly the right thing to help him.

'I believe you.' She told him quietly, before stepping towards him again. This time he didn't move.

He looked up, into her eyes, and found nothing but the truth there. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

'I believed you from when you said you wouldn't do this to Tara,' Rachel continued, putting a hand on his shoulder, 'I know that to be true, no matter what happened. You died for her, and I know I'd be right in saying you would again.'

'In a second.' Charly answered, almost angrily. He collapsed into her comforting embrace and tried to work through what had happened.

He told her everything, that time between two ticks of a clock seemed to last all day, and when he eventually finished Rachel looked both relieved and confused.

'I don't know of anything that she could have used that would have that effect. At least on you, I thought your body burned all drugs before they took effect?' She asked him.

'Here's the kicker: it does.' He paused before touching on something else, 'You can _not_ tell anyone else!' He pleaded. She gave him a reassuring nod.

He let time affect Rachel normally, but remained in the frozen state on his own for a little while, working through what had happened once again. When he felt he was ready he finally returned the flow of time to normal and they ventured back to breakfast.

'That was fast. What were you discussing that needed you to stop time?' Tara asked without looking at Charly.

'Oh,' he began, hesitantly, 'just some… arrangements, nothing important really.' He finished lamely, hoping she would buy it.

'Ok Charly.' She answered simply, still not looking at him.

He sighed quietly in relief and returned to his breakfast.

By midday Charly had received word from the Justice League that Roy would be arriving in the city that afternoon, so he collected Tara, who hadn't spoken to him much that day, and went to the airport just outside the city.

By the time they got there Roy was already waiting outside for them.

Roy Harper, formerly Speedy, had hung up his quiver long ago and become Arsenal, preferring now to strap on holsters instead. This fact made Charly less than fond of him, since he had a deep hatred of guns. A fact that he mentioned to Roy on the drive back to the Logan's.

'Well you would too, if you'd been killed by one.' Was his reason when Roy snorted derisively at his comment.

'So someone fill me in, the JL didn't tell me much. Multiple fatalities somehow connected.' Roy asked from the backseat. Tara turned to answer him, flashing a quick glance at Charly who despite watching the road still managed to catch the strangely empty look in her eyes.

'You know as much as we do, we were waiting for you to arrive before we went to the police, so that's where we're going now.' She told him quickly.

Charly pulled up outside the JCPD and the occupants of the car filed in and straight into the Commissioner's office.

'Ah, there you are,' Commissioner Valentine was a portly man, but one who emanated an air of power. He was the kind of man you would expect to be the police Commissioner. 'I've been waiting for you all. I take it the League has told you about the situation?' He looked at their blank faces.

'Not really, sir, no.' Charly answered, feeling like he was back in school.

Valentine looked impatient but not surprised.

'Well, multiple fatalities, connected most definitely. All the bodies were drained entirely of their blood. No evidence at all, the forensics team can't find anything out of order. Besides the wounds that is; bite marks on the necks of the victims, but no DNA and no matching dental records.' He finished and sat further back into his large leather chair, seeming to enjoy the look of confusion that passed through the three young heroes.

'Someone playing vampire?' Charly asked Tara quietly. 'We've seen that before.'

'Well, yeah,' she answered, 'but they've never managed to drain their victims entirely.'

'Maybe it's the real deal then.' Roy put in, gaining a pained look from everyone. 'Hey, we've seen weirder.'

Charly was about to add something else when the door flew open, causing Roy to spin and draw his guns, this in turn caused Charly to drop into a fighting stance and hiss ferally at the weapons.

'Commissioner Valentine! We've got another!' The officer who seemed oblivious to the hissing man or the double 45s trained on him.

Tara gave Charly a look that made him straighten up and grin sheepishly.

'Sorry, force of habit. Y'know, demonic hissing habit.' He finished rather haltingly.

Valentine turned to the three and grinned again.

'Looks like you'll get to work sooner than expected.' He chuckled.

'But Commissioner, this one's still alive!' The officer yelled, almost frantic.

'Let's roll!' Roy yelled, chasing the sprinting officer through the department.

'Let's roll? I had no idea we were in an 80s cop show!' Charly joked, fishing for a laugh from Tara; normally she would at least smile at something that bad.

She walked straight past him without a backwards glance.

The crime scene was an apartment downtown, not far from where Charly had awoken that morning. To say it was obvious there had been a struggle would be a little pointless.

'This place is trashed. It's worse than Beast Boy's old room!' Roy said, kicking his way through the piles of papers and other, slightly denser materials.

Charly gave him a look and moved to the back of the room, where a paramedic team was doing their job on whoever was on the floor; he went to stand by them while Tara and Roy moved to the three officers stood nearby.

'Terra, Arsenal and Spitfire of the Justice League, we're here to assist the investigation.' Tara flashed her League membership card as she addressed the officers.

'Uh, freelancer over here.' Roy pointed to himself. 'No League connections.'

Most police departments were wary of, if not openly disdainful towards, the Justice League so having a freelancer to work with helped no end. Something Tara and Charly learned during some of their earlier missions.

'Right, the paramedics are just finishing up with the victim, forensics haven't found anything and the guy wont talk to us. You think you can do better, be my guest, Doll.' The middle cop told Tara while Roy wandered around looking at the apartment.

As Tara turned to join Charly by the victim he spotted one officer turn to the others, gesture towards Tara and silently whistle his approval, the others nodded in agreement. Charly grimaced and stalked over.

'You will show some respect,' he quietly told them through gritted teeth, 'and you will be more careful who sees you 'checking out' Terra.'

'Hey man, I was respecting her,' the officer chuckled, 'right then I was respecting her fine ass.' His buddies laughed along with him, causing Charly to growl.

'What's up Super Hero? Insecure about your girl? You been unfaithful?' Another jibed.

Charly's growl neared angry lion proportions but just as he readied himself to teach this jerk a lesson a voice stopped him.

'Spitfire!' Nightwing stood in the doorway, wearing a slight smile that only people who knew him would notice, as such, the police didn't. Charly shot him a smile of his own, accompanied by another short growl before stalking back to Tara's side.

'You boys need to be careful about winding him up. The League is still considering whether to keep him on the payroll, he has… issues. That and being part demon makes him kinda antsy. Also, dying didn't make him any more relaxed. Still,' Nightwing moved to stand with the Leaguers, 'if you want to piss him off, be my guest. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if you really hit a nerve.'

'Let's talk to this guy then.' Richard said, as the paramedics moved aside.

The image laid out before them was less than pretty. The man's blood had stained all the bandages and the carpet around him; it all seemed rather fresh too. Roy turned away and covered his mouth, Tara moved a hand to her throat and Richard inhaled sharply. Charly simply stared at the man, stoic as ever.

'Sir, I know you're weak but we need to know who did this, while it's still fresh in your mind.' Charly asked the prone figure.

For a long time nothing happened, eventually Roy spoke up.

'Right, he's not talking. We'll come see him in the hospital.' They all turned to leave.

It was then that the man began to yell.

'BLOOD! BLOOD, THE BLOOD!' He jerked up into a sitting position and frantically looked around, causing the paramedics to administer an anaesthetic. He began to quietly moan as it took effect.

'Blood, the blood. The blood…' He mumbled something else which caused Charly to start. Tara noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder, sensing he needed to feel the contact.

'What did you say?' Charly leaned in close to the man's face.

'Blood. The blood… The _Brother._' With that the man lapsed into unconsciousness.

Charly took a step back, knocking over more ornaments that were behind him. He was stopped by Tara, who put her arms round him from behind and whispered reassurances in his ear. He didn't hear any of them however; he was trying to piece together what the man had said so that it didn't lead to the inevitable truth. He was failing.

It was Roy who finally broke the near silence.

'What does 'the blood, the brother' mean?' He asked, confusedly.

Charly shot a look of pure, unadulterated hatred at him and swept from the apartment.

'What was that about? I only asked what the guy meant.' Roy looked for support. 'What did he mean anyway?'

'Brother Blood.' Nightwing intoned.

**Sorry about the sort-of cliffie…**

**Actually, no I'm not. Mwa ha ha!**

**What I am sorry for is the wait for this chapter. I've had a lot of work to do and a lot on my mind recently. Troubling things that keep me up at night, writing fanfiction rather than having to lie in bed and face them. Still, that's no excuse.**

**It's been this long also because I've had more time on my hands, which I've been spending with my friends. I've also had my Prom (what a waste of time) and my media studies Oscar evening. (My film was nominated for six categories, won two)**

**So thanks for sticking with me thus far.**

**Reamis, for now at least, out.**


	5. Unusual Reaction

**SOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOOONG! I'm proper sorry and all that. Work and stuff.**

**I'm freaking out, sorry.**

**So, here's the fifth chapter.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

Tara sat at the dining room table in the Logan household, trying her hardest to refrain from biting her nails. After Charly had stormed out of a crime scene following Roy's innocent remark she had come back to find the mansion empty, aside from Rachel, who was working on a new novel.

'He's done this before,' Rachel had tried to reassure her, to no avail; 'You shouldn't worry too much.'

Tara had merely nodded and made herself another cup of coffee.

Charly reappeared the next morning, looking worn out and a little hung-over. That in itself was a little strange and Tara noticed.

'Have you been drinking?' She asked him as he slumped into a chair opposite her.

He nodded, grabbing her mug of coffee and taking a sip.

'I thought your body burned alcohol before it entered your system.' It wasn't a question.

He coughed, seemingly to make his throat work and when he finally spoke it was a grating almost rattle.

'You don't know how much I've drunk.' He almost grinned. Almost.

'I was worried sick about you, you bastard!' Tara raged, standing, which caused Charly to lean back slightly. His shocked expression softened slightly and he leaned forwards again.

'I'm sorry honey,' he started, 'I didn't mean to worry you, it's just… why now, y'know? I've got enough to worry about than a resurrection of the man I killed.'

As something flashed in Tara's eyes Charly realised what he'd just said. It was more sobering than all the anti-hangover drugs ever designed.

'What do you mean by that?' She asked, nonchalantly.

'Erm…' He floundered, 'I just mean, coming back here…seeing all the old gang again…it's tiring.'

Tara wasn't convinced, and it showed.

'That night at the club… after I left you met Jinx.' She began, forcing him to meet her eye. It was like looking straight into the sun for him but he held her gaze.

'Did something happen when you took her home?' She asked, taking his hand across the table.

Charly felt the anxiety gather in his solar-plexus, the feeling was very much like taking a punch. From Starfire. An angry Starfire.

'No!' He yelled, leaping up and making to leave, 'No, nothing at all. How could you suggest that? No, that's silly. Preposterous.' He floundered around then finally met her gaze again.

'Ok…well…maybe.' A look crossed her face that was a mixture of rage and intense pain. 'It wasn't my intention though, in fact I didn't even have a choice… She… there was water and some kind of drug that… Tara,' He slowed down and stepped towards her, 'I love you, I would never do that to you, not knowingly.' He took another step.

She stepped back.

Charly's fear flared into sudden and illogical anger which he tried to contain, unfortunately he couldn't.

'Who told you? How did you know? It was Rachel, wasn't it?' He spat his sister's name like it was foul-tasting dirt in his mouth.

'What? No!' Tara was taken aback by this sudden outburst, even slightly frightened despite knowing Charly would never harm her.

'She made me a promise! She told me she believed me!' He practically ran to where Rachel was working.

Gar was back from Vic's and was talking to his wife when Charly entered, practically foaming at the mouth.

'You!' He yelled, pointing a flaming finger at the startled Rachel. He made to step forwards but Gar stepped into his path.

'What's the matter with you dude?' He asked, concern and wariness tinting his tone. 'You look the same as you did when we fought Brother Blood that time… The last time.'

Charly shuddered at the name but regained composure and restarted his tirade.

'You told Tara, after you said you wouldn't! After you told me you believed me! I'll kill you, you bitch!' He practically screamed over Gar's shoulder.

Rachel, who was about to reply, was struck dumb by the profanity. Charly had never called anyone that, especially not his friends. Gar seemed as surprised too, but that didn't stop him taking a step forwards.

'Don't threaten her, Charly.' He said quietly, eyes narrowing. 'I think you should leave.'

Charly stopped as though he'd walked into a highly-polished glass door. He suddenly seemed to realise what had happened.

'What?' He asked, quietly.

'Get out of my house.' Gar growled just as quietly. Tara had entered and was sitting with Rachel, whose confusion had brought her to the verge of tears.

Charly glanced over, to be greeted with a scared and angry look from Tara, before turning on a heel and exiting swiftly.

'I just asked him if something had happened with Jinx that night. He flew off the handle like he was possessed or something.' Tara explained, still half calming Rachel down.

'Yeah, that was weird.' Gar agreed, 'I'm gonna call Rich, see if he's got Watchtower connections.'

'Garfield…' Rachel started, but Gar cut her off.

'I'm gonna get you some tea, then I'm gonna call Rich.' He smiled sweetly at her and she returned it.

'Possessed…' Gar mused quietly as he left.

---

'_What the hell did I just do?'_ Charly thought, walking down a semi-crowded street in the city.

'As far as I can see, you flipped out and threatened to kill your sister. You then proceeded to call her a bitch. Now we're here.' Wisdom was, as usual, being very unhelpful.

'_I know that. We got any idea why? Also, we got any idea where I'm going to go? Gar will have called Rich and Kori by now, Vic'll be next. I can't go back to the watchtower without something to report… Think the new Titans'll let me crash in my old room?' _He thought as he passed a TV store showing pictures of the Tower.

'No.' Wisdom answered all his questions with one word.

'_Thanks.'_ He didn't mean it.

He found he had walked into the park so he walked slightly further and sat under a tree. It was a brisk autumn day so not many people were out. A few dog walkers, a couple of persistent kids playing some game or other.

'You could,' Knowledge piped up, 'Give the Watchtower a call, see if they can find anything out about… what just happened.'

Charly brightened up at the thought and activated his comm.

'Hey, it's Spitfire. Who's on Comms?' He asked as he connected.

'It's me man.' Bart's voice floated through the system. 'What can I do you for?'

'I need some info. Get anyone with knowledge of…' He stopped.

'You still there? Knowledge of what?' Bart asked, ever impatient.

'I don't actually know. Here's what happened…' He began.

He told Bart the whole story, secure in the knowledge that he would be writing it down to show to others as he did so, when he was done he seemed to have robbed even the Flash of anything to say.

'That doesn't sound like you at all. I'm thinking I should get everyone who knows about mind control. I'll be back in a sec.' There was silence for all of a second. 'I'm back, everyone in the Watchtower with any knowledge is about to get a page.' As if to prove his point, Jonn's voice boomed over the intercom in the background, demanding anyone with mind control knowledge to meet by the transfer pads.

'Cheers, mate. I owe you one.' Charly stood. 'I'm going to have to come back up there aren't I?' He asked.

'Yeah, and Charly, you owe me loads.' Bart laughed.

'Do _not_ tell Clark I'm coming back up yeah?' Charly said just as he was transferred.

---

'You're right Gar, that isn't normal.' Rich finished. He was now seated on Gar's sofa, along with Kori and Vic. Rachel was sat in an armchair and Gar was pacing like a caged tiger, the likeness was uncanny.

'Maybe Charly was still under the effects of alcohol. We know that he is not used to being drunk, we believed his body could not absorb alcohol.' Kori attempted.

'This doesn't sound like drunken rambling to me. I smell a rat, and it's a rat that can control the emotions of a slightly empathic pyrokinetic.' Rachel put in. 'That's not exactly easy.' She added, when she spotted her friend's looks.

'Any luck with the Watchtower?' Vic asked Rich, looking worried.

Rich sighed and shook his head, looking genuinely disappointed.

'There's something going on up there that's stopping me getting through. From the small amount of connection time I managed to get it seemed like half the residents of the station were congregating nearby. Bart wouldn't tell me anything.' He finished rather lamely; Nightwing isn't someone who doesn't get what he needs when he needs it.

'I think,' Tara began, 'that I should pay a little visit to a certain bad luck sorceress.' She stood, as did everyone else. 'I don't need you guys to come with me; it's just a friendly chat.' She grinned a little more evilly than she intended.

---

Charly sat on an operating table in the Watchtower's medical area, awaiting the results of his final test. A blood test.

'Well, Spitfire,' a small man in a long white coat which made him look a little like a child in a ghost costume on Halloween spoke from behind him, 'there's nothing in your blood that shouldn't be there. The only anomaly is the higher concentrations of… well, everything in there than in your original sample from when you joined the League. It's like you've suddenly gained more of your own blood from somewhere.' The doctor seemed to be rambling slightly now, as though to himself.

Charly sighed and hopped off the table, grabbing his shirt and throwing it over his head.

'I appreciate what you did Doc. Really I do, but you haven't helped at all, so I'll see you when I break a wing or something.' He traipsed out and ran straight into something, or rather someone. The effect was very much the same as turning round to find Vic stood behind you, only with a meaty thud, rather than a clang.

'You might want to watch where you're storming, hot-shot.' Clark smiled down at him, a half sincere smile that one might imagine a shark would flash at a baby harp seal if it could. 'We need to talk, about your mission mainly.'

'We need to talk.' Charly repeated dumbly, and then something began to dawn on him. 'We need to talk!' He snapped his fingers, trying not to do the 'palm punching' thing Robin always did. 'All of this started when I met Jinx. Well, got worse when I met Jinx. Sorry Clark, I've got to jet, I need to pay a little visit to a certain bad luck sorceress.' With that he sprinted back to the transfer pads.

---

Jinx landed heavily onto a pile of already broken trinkets, ornaments and gadgets, scrabbling back slightly to avoid the slab of rock that slammed into the floor where she had been a second ago.

'Now, we'll try again. What have you done to Charly?' Tara hissed at her, breaking another chuck of sidewalk and bringing it in through the window to float almost casually in front of her.

'Nothing he didn't want me to.' Jinx tried her luck again, delivering this sentence with a suggestive grin. Tara simply made a noise something like a growl and took a step forwards.

'You aren't answering the question.' Tara told her, moving the rock closer towards the woman in a sort of half crouch across from her.

Tara was about to reiterate her question when another voice cut through the darkness outside the apartment.

'Jinx, we need to talk.' Charly stepped through the destroyed door, not seeming to notice its state. 'What have you done to me? Whatever you drugged me with didn't just last one night, did it?' He stopped when he saw the scene, glancing around with a look in his eye that suggested he saw this sort of thing every day.

'I see we have a common cause.' He addressed Tara, keeping his eyes on Jinx. 'That's good.'

He took a step towards the half-prone sorceress, causing her not to shuffle back defensively, but to physically cower. Charly even thought he heard a small whimper of fear.

'What's wrong with you?' He asked, abruptly, thrown off by the reaction.

Jinx looked up at him, tears of fright filling her eyes. She spoke in a shaky voice, quiet and unlike her.

'What's wrong with me? I'm not the one who ripped an innocent man apart for no reason.' She flinched when he made a sudden movement, but he was simply turning to the newspaper she pointed to, among the other items strewn across the floor.

The headline read 'Witness 'finished off' by so-called Hero'. Charly read the first few lines out loud.

'The manhunt continues for Spitfire, former Teen Titan and current Justice League member, who brutally butchered the key witness in the case involving the recent string of attacks. It is assumed that Spitfire is involved in the crimes, and was covering his tracks by taking this assignment from the League.' He stood for a while, his hands shaking slightly until the paper began to smoulder and finally burst into flames.

He turned to Tara, who looked just as shocked as him, and seemed to begin pleading with her.

'You were there, you saw the guy and the paramedics. I left, because of what Roy said. I didn't kill anyone. Did I?' He looked utterly helpless at this point, and Tara very nearly forget everything that had happened recently in her effort to comfort him. A protective instinct that threatened to overrule her anger.

As she was about to speak Jinx plucked up the courage to talk again.

'There's video footage. CCTV. Proof that you're a killer!' She yelled at him.

He rounded, frantically and stormed over, causing her to flinch violently, but she held his gaze.

'Where did this footage come from? No. More importantly, what part did you play in all this? Why did you drug me?' He demanded angrily.

'I was just paid to administer the drug and then I had you to myself for a night. I had no idea of the after effects, please, I swear it's the truth!' She tried to pull away as Charly grabbed her arm.

'There's one other thing.' Charly glanced at Tara before he asked his next question. 'That night I brought you back here, secure in the knowledge I was doing the right thing by helping you? You drugged me and I blacked out but my body still worked. Did anything happen? Did we 'do' 'anything'?'

Jinx looked like she was about to laugh a little when she replied.

'I had you do my dishes. Then it was just a case of telling you to sleep in my bed. It's hardly like I haven't seen you naked before either, or vice versa. Remember those parties at the tower? Strip poker? You were there, you remember.' She said to Tara, before tossing her a playful wink.

Tara was clearly still fuming, but with this new info her anger towards Charly had cooled.

'_Nothing happened! He remained faithful to me even when he wasn't in control of his body!'_ Her mind shouted, clearly ecstatic.

Charly flickered a glance in her direction and caught a look he hadn't seen for a little while, it was a look that lifted his spirit and he never wanted that moment to end. But it did, when the sound of sirens grew louder along the street; someone had called the cops because of the noise Tara had made during her 'interrogation'.

'If the police think you killed a man, is it safe for you to still be here when they arrive?' Tara asked Charly, taking him into an embrace which he returned.

Charly flicked a strand of hair from his face and chuckled a little.

'I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I mean, I'm in the Justice League. I've served this city since I was a kid! Heck, they'll be coming here to see if we need any help.' He joked, helping Jinx off the ground.

The pounding footsteps of the police grew louder as Charly turned to the door, a smile on his face. A smile that lasted a very short time, as twenty armed SWAT members kicked the door open and trained their guns on him.

'Kiss the ground, hotshot.' A voice came from the foremost nondescript helmet.

Tara looked on in horror, Jinx laughed and Charly dropped to his knees, hands on his head.

'This is not good at all.' His voice whispered, barely audible.

**I'll apologise right now for anything that might be pissing people off. **

**How late this is.**

**That this chapter's not up to much.**

**That I'm being brief here.**

**That I haven't apologised (now redundant.)**

**That it sucks.**

**I've been working.**

**Reamis.**


	6. Strange Occurances

**So here we are, another sleepless night, another chapter of my fan fiction, Where'd we leave off? Oh yeah…**

**Recap:**

Jinx revealed her part in whatever plot caused Charly's recent behaviour.

During an interrogation the police were called, leading to a SWAT raid on Jinx's home.

This was all after Charly discovered he was wanted for murder, thanks to some CCTV evidence, which he had no knowledge of.

Today's chapter:

'That's right hero; keep your hands where I can see 'em.' The nondescript helmet of the SWAT leader droned, a mocking tone dripping from every word.

Charly moved from his kneeling position to an upright one, followed by the guns of the apprehensive team. It wasn't everyday that you had to train your firearm on a member of the Justice League and it was making them nervous.

'D'you see the video of what this guy did?' One voice in the crowd whispered through it's concealed microphone, gaining a nod from whoever he had addressed.

'Are you gonna come easy, or should we start shooting?' The leader drawled at him, gesturing with the barrel of his gun. It was then that he noticed the other two occupants of the room.

'Don't worry ladies, we won't let him harm you.' He was playing the tough guy and was not a little oily along with it. This made Charly growl slightly, which in turn caused the gun barrels to be levelled on his face instantly and unwaveringly.

Tara stepped forwards, flashing her League membership.

'Terra of the Justice League.' She introduced herself briskly. 'What is the meaning of this?' She gestured towards the assembled SWAT.

'Your colleague here is wanted for four counts of homicide, doll face.' This term earned another growl from Charly.

'Easy there, Hero. Don't want one of the boys getting jumpy and putting a bullet in you before we have to.' The SWAT leader lowered his gun and stepped forward with the handcuffs he removed from his belt.

Tara stepped in front of him but Charly moved her aside.

'It's ok, hon. This'll all be sorted out soon enough. They can't hold me for a crime I haven't committed. The 'Tower will confirm the video as a fake and I'll be out looking for whoever did this.' He kissed her soundly before raising his hands to receive the 'cuffs.

'Visitors for you Mr. Spitfire, sir.' The guard announced as he let some people into the visitor's section, separated from Charly by a sheet of bulletproof glass. The guard's name was Earl, he believed Charly was innocent, but insisted he had to do his job.

Tara, Vic, Gar, Rachel, Kori and Rich all walked in looking sullen and took a seat on the far side of the glass.

'Well?' Charly began, his voice sounding thin and robotic, not necessarily due entirely to the small, tinny speaker that served to allow communication. 'What did the Watchtower say? The video's fake right?' He looked expectantly at them, his smile faltering.

Rich shook his head sadly. 'They didn't find any discrepancies on the tape.' He let that sink in.

'They also had a psychic read the residual energies. There's no mistaking; it was you on that tape and in that room.' Rich had something of apology in his tone. It helped to mask the accusation.

Charly didn't speak, he didn't blink, even; he didn't have to.

His hair caught aflame as he lifted his arm and brought it slamming down onto the desk in front of him, creating a small fire as he did so.

'God damn it! I didn't kill anyone!' He shouted, running his hands through his hair in frustration as the small fire seemed to put itself out. 'Did I?'

He looked at the assembled former team, all of whom looked disappointed, to say the least. But Charly could feel the waves of disbelief from them, the accusation, even the fear.

He stood, turning and giving a flippant hand gesture. 'Visiting hours are over.' He said quietly, forcing his voice not to come out as an angry yell.

'No, dude we've still got twenty minutes.' Gar didn't catch on fast enough, causing a furious Charly to spin, eyes ablaze, and yell at the separating glass.

'I said they're OVER!' With that he stormed towards the door back to the cellblock, which the guard hastily opened.

'That didn't go well.' Kori pointed out, uselessly. This caused a small grimace from Rich.

'What did you expect? He's always been unruly, right from day one.' He stood, spun on his heel and stalked from the room.

Vic looked at Kori, who nodded at the unspoken agreement; Rich didn't want to believe Charly was guilty but his confusion became anger, directed at the person he was trying to save.

They left without another word.

Charly lit another cigarette and leaned against his cell wall, watching the smoke drift lazily from his mouth, out of the window. He followed it, stopping only when he had to because of the bars.

Outside, a number of reporters, onlookers, well-wishers and haters rallied to hurl abuse or condolences in turn. He watched, letting his eyes focus beyond the shouted questions of the reporters to the back of the group. There he spotted something that made him do a double take.

Himself.

Standing at the back of the crowd and smirking evilly was a perfect copy of himself, exact in every detail except the sparkle in his eye. A sparkle that was both mocking and challenging to equal measure.

Charly dropped the Marlboro from his mouth and stared, wide-eyed at his doppelganger.

'This is not happening.' He quickly told himself, rubbing his eyes. 'Am I going insane?'

When he looked again the vision of himself was gone, replaced by an ordinary looking teen in a 'Free Charly' T-shirt. He retrieved his almost forgotten smoke and went back to sit on his paper-thin mattress.

'Mr. Spitfire, another visitor for you.' Earl sounded confused and a little scared.

'I don't want to talk to anyone, Earl, I'm not going back out there, not for anyone.' Charly sighed; he couldn't face anyone right now, not even Tara. Especially not anyone senior from the League.

'Oh, come now,' a too familiar and yet strange voice drifted through the bars, 'not even for yourself?' The vision from outside stepped into view, holding a lit cigarette and smiling in a half sneering way.

Earl hurried away, leaving a Charly on either side of the bars.

'Who are you?' The real Charly asked, angrily. _'Am I the real Charly? I don't understand this! What's the point in all of this!?'_

'I'm Spitfire, formerly of the Teen Titans, currently under employ by the Justice League. I'm six foot one inch tall, weigh about 12 stone, my hair is naturally black but I've been known to dye it red of occasion.' The Charly on the other side of the bars rattled off.

'Congratulations, fraud, you can recite information you could read in any magazine or on any website.' Charly mocked. 'What else you got?' He asked, flicking ash in the direction of the impostor.

'I'm currently unmarried but am romantically linked with Terra, also of the Titans and the League.' The sneer in the fake's voice took on a malicious edge.

'You stay away from her.' Charly growled, as menacingly as he could manage. He was happy to note his double's sudden discomfort, even if he did recover very quickly. 'You committed those murders, didn't you?' Charly demanded.

'Yes, I did, with your face, and now you can rot in here till they decide what to do with you. I hope it's something good, it's been a long time coming.' The doppelganger sneered again.

'What has?' Charly grabbed the cell bars and thrust one arm through to grab the other man, who dodged just in time.

'Oh nothing, nothing… Well, be seeing you.' The double turned to leave and flicked his cigarette butt at the incarcerated Charly.

For a while Charly seethed in his cell. He had been set up, and someone was using his face somehow to commit crimes. Whoever this person was they had destroyed his already fragile life; his friends didn't trust him, the people he once protected hated him and just because some bastard wanted…

'_What _does_ he want?_' Charly mused suddenly, moving back to the window. He caught a glimpse of the double walking away from the police station and made a snap decision.

'Tara's always telling me about doing this kind of thing. Oh well.' He said, stopping the relative temporal dimension and melting the bars on his window. He waited until he was safely out of sight in the surrounding trees before starting time again.

'Time to see where my trail leads to… That was weird.' With that Charly set off in pursuit of himself.

Bart sat at the comm. controls of the Watchtower, scanning news websites at super-speed searching for any further information on Charly. He stopped when he read a breaking news bulletin on that stated:

'Justice League member and suspected murderer Spitfire has escaped from his holding cell and vanished into the surrounding area.'

Bart stared for a minute or so; wide-eyed as he read the further info link, sighing heavily just as Tara walked into the area. She had returned to the space station to 'clear her head'. It wasn't working.

'Charly, what have you done this time?' Bart asked the screen quietly, not noticing the geokinetic standing just behind him.

'What _has_ he done now? If he's done something stupid I'll…' She trailed off as she too read the article.

'I don't get it, sure the dude had issues, but all you Titans did. I knew he was slightly eccentric but I didn't think he was actually insane.' Bart rattled off. Tara thought he was referring to the accusation of murder and subsequent escape, but he was pointing to a certain phrase.

'The guard had this to say, 'Just before he escaped I saw Mr. Spitfire talking to himself, seemed like he was pretty mad at himself for some reason.'' Tara read over Bart's shoulder. Bart was about to make another comment when Tara shushed him quite forcefully.

'You didn't read it all, whiz-kid, there's more; 'When I say he was talking to himself I don't mean like a crazy guy might, I mean there was two of him. One inside the cell, one out. Like his twin or something. It was weird, soon as the one outside the cell left, the one inside the cell escapes. I think maybe he was following the other guy.'' Tara sighed loudly, running a hand through her hair. 'Charly, do you ever think before you run off to fight evil?' She asked, before trying to raise Charly's comm. unit with the equipment Bart had forsaken just a moment ago for coffee and Oreos.

'Charly…..Read me?…..Tara……..atchtower and……escaped!?…….you thinking!?……..eed backup?' Bursts of static stopped Charly hearing the whole message, but the meaning was clear enough, was he ok and did he need backup? He activated the relay of his earpiece and sent a message back, hoping Tara would receive it properly.

'Tara, I read, but not well. Yes I escaped, but you've got to understand, I can't clear my name if I'm stuck in jail! I'm on my way to have stern words with myself, no doubt you've heard about my 'visitor' by now, I think backup might be nice as a reassurance but I'm not convinced it's a necessity. Also, do you know anyone besides me that could take me out? Excluding the people you wouldn't ask for help, I mean, and your good self.' He paused, taking a deep breath after that outpouring and considering his next words. 'Tara, I love you, I just gotta clear up my rep and we can be together and happy again. We can forget all of this. Did you get all of that?' Charly took a huge breath and waited for a reply.

'I read……..understand……..thanks and………..ove you too……..don't be too hard on yourself, ok?' The final joke got through unaffected by the interference, making Charly chuckle slightly.

In the time it had taken to receive and send all of that his cautious pace had brought him to a dead end, or at least what seemed to be a dead end. There were signs, however, that the large rock wall was an entrance to something or somewhere.

'Now,' Charly began out loud, 'Would they be expecting me to sneak in or to enter with a lot of noise?' He lit another cigarette from a small flame on the end of his thumb and began to stare intently at his impromptu lighter. 'More importantly, which one would I enjoy more?' He flicked his hand towards the concealed door…

Rich was pacing in the Logan's sitting room, the television was on quietly showing images of Charly from throughout his life in the public eye, even some early Titans footage, including his first battle with Adonis.

'It seems so long ago…' Kori began, gesturing to the wide-screen.

Rich stopped and took his hands from his pockets, frowning at the screen.

'Where is he? What could he be doing?' He asked no-one in particular.

His answer came from the doorway, as Tara rounded the corner. She looked relieved, angry and worried all at once.

'He's followed himself somewhere.' She stopped at the look this gained her and continued slightly angrily. 'You've heard about the doppelganger, right? He escaped and followed him to somewhere, but I haven't been able to get a fix on his location.' She sat in one of the large armchairs furnishing the room and sighed heavily.

For a long time Rich continued to pace, until finally Gar yelled in frustration.

'Dude! Sit the hell down, you're making me dizzy and wearing a track into my rug! Sure, we're all worried, but pacing about isn't going to make him appear.' He shouted, flashing his fang somewhat, a habit he picked up to ward off dangerous animals when shooting somewhere.

Tara, who had been fidgeting for a while, finally found what was causing her discomfort. A pack of Charly's cigarettes was underneath the seat cushion; she fished it out and began turning it over and over in her hands, as though considering something.

'Guys!' Bart's voice suddenly blared through the television, causing everyone in the room but Tara to jump.

'I had no idea you guys could do that.' Rich pointed out, with a slight reprimand in his voice.

'We can worry about the morality later, but right now I think you should know…' a thermal-imaging picture appeared on the screen where Bart's head had been, '…This is near a selection of underground tunnels and caves, and this dot here,' an arrow appeared, pointing out an orange and yellow spot moving in a direction, 'is a person.'

'So?' Kori asked, none too politely.

'So,' Bart continued, 'Watch.'

The dot stopped moving and an elongated section moved out of it, presumably the person was raising an arm. Bart zoomed in a it more, showing more details, as a flash of red passed down the arm onto the end of a line of blue protruding from the figure's head, clearly a cigarette.

The former team watched silently as the figure seemed to consider the sot of red on it's hand before flicking it at a wall of blue in front him. The wall of rock exploded in a flash of red and the figure strolled through the sea of what was presumably fire.

'One guess as to who that was, hmm?' Bart's head had reappeared, but with the frozen thermal image shrunk into the top left corner of the screen. 'Rocky,' He nodded at Tara, who was still fiddling with the half full cigarette packet, 'Supes has given you full jurisdiction on this one, so what's the plan?'

Everyone turned to stare at Tara, as she looked a little bewildered.

'Fuck it,' She conceded, stuffing a Marlboro into her mouth, 'I'm having one.'

**So, that's that chapter.**

**Sorry it's taken this long guys and gals, college, job, homework, excuses. You know the drill.**

**It's 00:45, so I'll give this a quick redraft some other time and shove it up on the site.**

**Peace out,**

**Reamis.**


	7. Outcomes

**I am so sorry it's taken me this long to update, faithful reader type people and you have every right to be mad at me because frankly I have no excuse whatsoever.**

**So 1000 apologies and if we can get on with the story that'd be great. I'll let you calm down by giving you a recap:**

Charly escapes from prison to follow his doppelganger and arrives at a badly concealed cave entrance, which he promptly destroys.

The rest of the former Titans are gathered at the Logan's when word arrives via Bart, who shows them thermal imaging footage of Charly's big entrance.

**Now for today's chapter (and quite possibly the final one):**

The wheels of Vic's car screeched as the brakes were slammed on, forcing the two-ton slab of metal to skid sideways almost into the towering wall of rock that was ahead of them not thirty seconds ago. Vic, Rich and Tara piled out as Kori, Rachel and a green sparrow hawk descended from the sky next to them (one of which then transformed back into Gar).

'Anyone spot where he went in?' Gar asked sarcastically, indicating a huge and still-smoking crater at the base of the cliff which opened onto a dark hole descending into the very ground itself.

Rich made a gesture which one could interpret as 'move in' and set off into the darkness with nary a backward glance.

'This can't possibly be as bad as the last time he did this kind of thing right?' Tara asked, hopefully, thinking of the time Charly had rescued her from a similar underground lair at the expense of his own life. It seemed so long ago now, back when they were young; invincible. In that case, literally.

---

Charly had made his way into a large cavern, which seemed to have been hastily hewn by inexpert hands to accommodate a large group of people quite quickly.

It was pitch dark, the only light coming from the orb of fire held by Charly, which illuminated just enough for him to put one foot in front of another without fear of falling into some invisible precipice.

Just as he ventured further into the 'room' a spotlight snapped on, illuminating the room further but focusing on a singular figure, which stood, blankly staring at Charly through eyes that looked dead and by rights had every reason to.

'Spitfire.' The figure spoke in a listless fashion, in a voice Charly thought he had long since silenced. Messily. 'We meet again.'

Charly dropped his initial surprise and let fury overcome him as he recognised the person before him.

'BLOOD!' He roared, his hair igniting into a raging inferno matched only by his eyes. 'You're dead! You can't be here!' He flicked his hands out to his sides, creating a ball of flame in each.

'Come now, Spitfire, if you can transcend death, so may I.' Blood drawled, his eyes unfocused.

Charly noticed a fluctuating energy signature surrounding and filling Blood, which led off into the darkness. He smiled, not knowing what else to do.

'Ah ha. Blood, I didn't transcend anything and neither did you. I was _sent_ back because something out there likes me and you, well, you've been forced back by someone.' He took his eyes off Brother Blood and scanned the room. 'So who's pulling the puppet's strings, I wonder?'

At this point what must have been hundreds of overhead lights snapped on with a loud bang, revealing something like the set of a sci-fi TV show, all monitors and high-tech equipment.

'_Whoa, it looks like Cyborg's room, only carved into rock.'_ Someone in Charly's mind pointed out.

A large black leather chair span round to reveal…

'Who the hell are you supposed to be?' Charly demanded, loudly, not extinguishing his fireballs.

'Me?' The rather overweight figure replied. 'I am your death, Spitfire. I am the Omega over which you have managed to skip far to many times. I am fate!'

Charly said nothing, he raised an eyebrow and tossed a small fireball right next to the man's head.

'All right! They call me Psycho, for reasons you shall learn.' Psycho replied.

'I can guess.' Charly deadpanned.

'SILENCE!' Psycho screeched before quickly regaining his composure. 'You may be wondering what your old nemesis is doing here,' he indicated Blood, who had turned to stare at them, 'he works for me now. Because _he_ does.' He indicated another man who had appeared from the shadows.

This man had long blonde hair and a pair of sunglasses, which Charly guessed were probably a constant feature.

'He used to call himself Kid Eternity. He is now Eternity and I control his power. Want to know what it is?' Psycho seemed to depress a giggle before continuing. 'He can open the door between life and death and bring people back from the _other side_.' He finished like some cheesy TV presenter on the psychic medium shows Raven would immediately switch channels to avoid.

'I know,' Charly sighed heavily, 'we'd met many times before he vanished. But now you've enslaved one of my friends and you're going to pay. Dearly.'

'You can't threaten me! I know exactly what you're capable of. Like the time you knocked out the Watchtower with a single blast. Or when you killed my minion here.' Psycho seemed to concentrate very hard on Blood, who gave a little jaunty wave. 'You see? My power is to control the minds of others, or if not control, attack. So I had Eternity resurrect Brother Blood and had Blood commit a few… misdemeanours, shall we say.'

Charly raised himself from his fighting stance and gave a questioning look. 'What? Blood committed the murders I was blamed for? Wait, I knew that. What about my double?'

'We'll come to that, but now THIS!' Psycho leapt from his seat and placed his fingers on his temples.

A searing pain shot through Charly's mind, blinding him for a second as he felt Psycho probe around, looking for a mental handhold. Thankfully, back in the days of the Titans, Raven had taught him how to make his mind 'slippery' so mind-controllers couldn't get a firm grip, it simply involved something he was already accustomed to; sliding everything in his mind through his consciousness very quickly, thus confusing the attacker. In someone with as many issues as Charly it sometimes _injured_ the attacker. As was the case with Psycho.

'Argh! So, you can resist my control, but I know psychic strikes are a weakness of yours.' Psycho taunted, his voice seeming to get higher.

'_Wow, he _has_ done his homework, hasn't he?'_ Wisdom was able to say before Charly's mind shut down under the blast of psychic energy.

'Now, your double,' Psycho's voice seemed far away for a second before Charly's mind readjusted itself, 'another one of my minions. He calls himself Morph and can take the form of any human on Earth. Or humanoid not from Earth.' Psycho added with a slight snorting giggle.

'They certainly named you aptly.' Charly tried his luck, which gained him another psychic blast.

'I had him take your form and kill the final victim in public view. Then I had him lead you here.' Psycho gestured to Blood, then to Charly.

Charly looked up in time to receive another psychic attack and a punch from Brother Blood, sending him sprawling across the floor.

'Just as strong as you were alive, Blood.' Charly wiped some of his own blood from his bust lip and licked it off his thumb.

'The Master makes me strong.' Blood's zombie-voice drawled again.

'How the mighty have fallen. You were once a leader, not a minion.' Charly said as one of Blood's boots connected with his chest, sending him further across the floor and possibly cracking a rib or two.

Charly rose to his knees and coughed some blood onto the cold rock floor before Blood was on him again, pounding a knee into his chin, sending him backwards only to have his chest stamped on when he landed.

'Enough for now.' Psycho shouted.

'Yes, call off your dog, mentalist.' Charly had forced himself onto one knee and was wiping at the cuts on his face.

'It's Psycho!' The villain screamed, forcing Blood to punch Charly in the chest again.

'My only question, before I kick the crap out of you,' Charly began after a coughing fit, splattering more blood onto the ground, 'is why? Why go to all this trouble to bring me here and ruin my life when you know my weaknesses. You could have outright killed me whenever you wanted.'

'_That's right, keep him talking, the others will be here soon_.' Courage told him in an effort to make his host hold on.

'Let's hope so.' Charly replied quietly.

'Why didn't I kill you? That would be too good for you! You couldn't just die or you'd become more famous, more well-loved by _everyone_! No, your name had to be mud first, you had to have your friends and loved-ones doubting you and even you doubting yourself before I could finish you.' Psycho explained quietly.

'But why?' Charly insisted.

'Because…because…I wish I was you!' Psycho began to screech again. 'You with your fame and public persona whom everyone loves and your girlfriend and your Titans and your coolness!'

'Coolness?' Charly said under his breath.

'You made us normal,' Psycho continued, 'people with powers were special, I was special. In highschool nobody picked on me because I could turn their brains into soup. I was _someone_. The Teen Titans were people to be respected and feared; one trained by the greatest detective ever, one from space, one the daughter of a demon from another dimension, one the product of a disease and experimental cure and one half machine. They weren't _normal_. Until you came along, you and that bitch who seems to like you.'

Charly tossed another fireball at that statement but it went wide as another psychic blast ripped through his skull.

'You weren't the product of some weirdness, you two, you came and were just… you. Normal kids with powers. And you made it worse by being some friendly to the public. Eventually it became a normal, accepted thing to have powers and no-one cared anymore. I was a nobody again. No-one picked on me, but everyone avoided me, I was isolated, segregated and left to fend for myself! Have you got any idea how that feels!?' Psycho raged.

'I thought you knew my history, moron. My family and friends were killed when I was young. Isolation is knowing no-one you care about will ever be able to help you again. The despair eats away and there is _nothing_ anyone can do because anyone who could do something is dead.' Charly had stood up, sheer anger making him forget the pain. 'For a year I travelled alone, all over the world, stealing to survive and sleeping where I could. I didn't have a warm bed to go home to, no parents to hug me and tell me it was all going to be alright in the morning. No, because a crazy person took that away. I was friendly to people as a Titan because I liked Jump City and my new friends and family and I didn't want anyone to endure the pain of being looked-down on or ignored or discriminated against by someone who was supposedly better than them. You are a sad, deluded little man with _no_ idea what real suffering is. You're a nerd with a superiority complex which was shattered when you realised that people with power aren't better, just different.' Charly roared, shaking the walls of the cavern with every word.

---

The former Titans had reached the entrance to the cavern just in time to hear the start of Psycho's explanation. By the time Charly had finished they all stood open-mouthed at the sheer passion in their friend's voice.

'He really cares about this doesn't he?' Gar asked, redundantly.

All he gained as an answer were nods.

---

'It's not the same!' Psycho screamed, covering his ears and shaking his head. 'You don't know! We are better! We are!'

He began to throw blast after blast into Charly's mind, ripping his psyche to shreds. He began to speak again, punctuating every word with another blast.

'And. Now. There're. No. Titans. To. Help. You.' He shouted, pummelling the man before him.

Charly writhed in agony as he felt his mind being destroyed. He thought he heard Robin somewhere in the distance.

'Wrong again, Psycho.' One of Nightwing's birdarangs had cut a gash into Psycho's face, but it didn't stop his mental assault. Charly managed to raise his head in time to see Raven raise a barrier of dark energy around herself and him.

'Back in the old uniform, huh Rave?' He managed to spit out.

'Yes,' Raven answered him quickly, 'Now shut up while I help heal your mind.' She went to work helping him reorder his memories and thoughts, all the while the other former Titans were fighting one minion or another.

Beast Boy morphed back from a rhino having just charged Brother Blood and turned to spot Raven on the ground, groaning in agony. He ran to help but stopped short, spotting the protective dome of power still over Charly. 'Wait…'

Morph leapt from his position on the floor, reverting to is own form and tackling the green hero t the ground.

Starfire, Cyborg and Terra were preoccupied with Blood and Eternity's armies of skeletons he seemed fond of summoning.

Rich was attacking Psycho. He was less susceptible to psychic attacks than Charly and could get right up to the villain. He grabbed his collar and placed a knife to his throat.

'Call them off.' He nodded to the mind-controlled villains. 'Now.'

Raven finished healing Charly's fragmented awareness and lifted the protective barrier in time to strike at distracted Psycho's mind and disable his power. Brother Blood crumbled to dust, as did Morph. Unfortunately, so did Eternity, proving that he had in fact died, as the Titans suspected. (Then again, he controls the doorway between life and death, so maybe he just needed a break from the world).

'Psycho,' Charly addressed the quietly sobbing villain, who was gibbering to himself, 'You were wrong before. As long as even one of us is still breathing, there will always be Titans._ Always_.' He stumbled slightly but was caught by Tara, who didn't even care when he coughed blood on her shirt. She was elated to know for sure why all of this had happened.

'One more thing,' Charly remembered, 'that stuff you paid Jinx to drug me with, what was it?'

Psycho perked up slightly. 'It was something I had Brother Blood whip up. I'd managed to get a sample of your blood, which the Brother then made into some kind of drug that would enter even your system, since it was your own blood. It gave me limited control over your emotions, well only anger really, and had the useful side effect of making you pass out but still be able to move.' Psycho giggled, which quickly became a sob and he began to gibber to himself again.

'You're a sick fuck. Get him out of here.' Charly demanded.

'Aren't you going to kill me? Add me to your large roster, Spitfire?' Psycho yelled as he was being dragged out of the cavern.

'You aren't worth it. Let's see you rot in jail until you become one of Eternity's playthings.' Charly hissed before blacking out.

**Some time later:**

The former Titans sat around a table at the Logan's house. Charly was now sporting a fine selection of bandages along with a hangover that apparently you can get from being psychically attacked.

'So that was exciting.' Vic said quietly.

As though the catalyst for it, that phrase started everyone talking at once. Once the din had died down Charly decided to weigh in and summarise.

'So all of this was because of some grudge a kid had in highschool when we were the Teen Titans. It was about jealousy and revenge. Unbelievable. I knew I was popular, but to generate nemeses? Whoa, dude. Whoa.' He worked through.

For a long time they sat and talked, and talked and sat and drank and talked. Rachel refused a glass of wine when everyone else indulged, everyone but Tara, anyway.

'On a lighter note,' Kori spoke up after a while, 'Richard and I have some news.'

'We're getting married.' Rich almost threw the statement away like it was worth nothing.

This announcement elicited more loud conversation and a long 'Dude!' from Gar.

Once the din had died down Gar spoke up as well. 'Since we're announcing things…' he put one arm around Rachel's shoulders and the other gently on her midriff.

'…We're pregnant.' Rachel told the group, smiling hugely.

This just caused further, louder talks and eventually this too died down in time for everyone to spot Charly and Tara copy the Logan's pose. Everyone stared expectantly.

'What a coincidence.' Charly said with an enormous grin. 'So are we.'

Chaos broke loose in the Logan household, everyone the Titans knew (even Jinx who was still in a police cell for at least one more night) was called and told all three sets of news, all offering congratulations and enquiring dates. A few even turned up at the mansion and a party started. Tara eventually found Charly sat in the garden after talking to practically everyone simply because they were hunting her down to ask things.

'Hey honey.' He said as she sat down next to him. 'One of my cigarettes is missing.' He waved a pack accusingly.

'I didn't smoke it, Charly, I'm carrying our child remember? But I want you to quit too, for the baby.' She leaned into him and took him in her arms.

'Done.' He said instantly. 'What's up?' He had noticed something about her mood,

'I was just thinking, we're going to have a child. A little mini boy or girl who's a mixture of both of us. What about powers and… the inherent danger and…'

He silenced her with a kiss and stroked her hair before leaning back and sighing. 'Yes, there's that. But we'll be there to make sure things don't go… awry. And when she's old enough we can teach her how to properly control whatever power she may have. If any, you never know, she might be completely normal.'

'She?' Tara asked.

'Yeah, we're having a girl. I can feel it.' Charly replied. 'Kinda ruins the surprise but ah well.'

'Anyway,' Tara continued, 'I hope _she_ does inherit some kind of power. Being normal is so over-rated.'

'Yeah. Besides,' Charly settled, 'what could possibly go wrong?'

**Thank you guys and girls so much for reading this.**

**I'm sure there are 'fans' of the original Spitfire who've read this too so thank you double, and if not, whatever, you've read this one, perhaps you'll read the other to try and make more sense of it.**

**I'll admit, 7 chapters is a lot less than 30, but the first one was a few periods of Charly's life, this is just one.**

**Again, apologies for the latency and many thousands of millions of thanks for your input and support and just generally for getting some sort of enjoyment from my work. But it's 5 AM now and I didn't get to sleep till about this time last night either. So I'm gonna upload then GO TO BED!**

**So, for the final time during this fic:**

**Reamis, out.**


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